Kitsap Color Classic
On the morning of the ride, Dad drove up to Edmonds, WA to the Cascade Bicycle Club Registration Point. After failing the impromptu test regarding his bib number, he was still able to remember his name, and the registration people gave him his t-shirt and bib. At least now, if anyone asked his bib number, he could turn around and they could read it off his back. Then, with a slight squeal of the brakes, Dad was rocketing down the hill towards the ferry dock.
Edmonds Ferry Dock
When he arrived Dad remembered that he had not picked up a map for the ride. Since Dad does not have a GPS for the bike, maps are often key to successfully following the route. He considered the risk of riding without a map and decided he could follow the other cyclists. There were bound to be dozens of them along every stretch of the route. What could possibly go wrong? Read More…
Cycle Training
Dad signed up for the Kitsap Color Classic group cycle ride with the Cascade Bicycle Club. Dad enjoys the club’s group rides. The people are friendly, the courses are interesting, and the huge numbers of bicycles on the road (more than a thousand) guarantees that motorists will take notice. But the past few weeks had been very busy for Dad, and he had not had time to train for the ride. So he figured he should at least get some riding in the weekend before the ride. Read More…
First Crossing
This month (April 2016) marks the grand opening of the of the Longest Floating Bridge in the World. The 520 bridge which spans Lake Washington east of Seattle celebrated its grand opening the weekend of April 2nd with two major events, the Bridge Run, and the inaugural Emerald City Bike Ride (ECBR). The ECBR was sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club. Dad was lucky enough to get a spot in the ECBR, and the morning of April 3rd found him loading up his bike into the back of the truck, while explaining to Mongo why Dad was flying solo that day. Read More…
Cycling around the Sound
Dad decided to join the Cascade Bicycle Club for a tour around the Puget Sound. The trip started at the Fauntleroy Ferry Docks on Saturday morning. Dad met the other riders, and then the ride leaders explained the rules and safety precautions. Dad was decked out in his bright biking clothes and helmet and was ready to go.
The Ride Continues
This was not going to be an easy task. Bicycle fitting is a tricky business in the first place. It’s more art than science. And Kimi is very particular about how things fit, so she was not about to compromise on this purchase. And Kimi is not tall, so she is usually looking at the smallest sized adult frames, which not many bicycle shops have in stock. Mom-mom, Dad, and Kimi all set out together to buy a new bike for Kimi. Her old bike from her middle school days had seen better times, but it had carried her all through her years at University of Oregon. U of O’s home town, Eugene Oregon, is one of the top bike theft capitals in the world. So she had never opted to upgrade her ride during her college years. That way if they stole her bike, they wouldn’t get much. Now that she was a freshly minted graduate with a paying job, Kimi was ready to move up in the cycling world. She had a pretty good idea what she wanted, dropped bars and disc brakes, but she wasn’t sure what kind of frame or gear set she wanted. She would just have to try a few until she found a set-up that she liked.
The Market Ride
Kimi wanted to practice with a dry run first. She thought riding her bike to work would be a fun way to get some exercise. Wisely, she did not want to pioneer the route on a weekday, when she would have to face gobs of traffic and risk being late to work. She approached Dad about taking a ride to downtown on a Sunday.
The First Ride From Mountlake Terrace
Dad had been riding his bike from West Seattle to his job in SEATAC. When he changed jobs and started commuting to Mountlake Terrace, north of downtown, he decided to try to continue his carbon-conscious ways. He studied the bus schedules to see what it would take to get him to Mountlake Terrace in the morning. Then he poured over bicycle trails to find the safest route home in the evening. Finally, he had his plans laid for both directions of travel. The busses seemed to be the most confusing part of the plan. They are so much more complicated than trains. Trains can only follow tracks, but busses can go anywhere, making it difficult to ever be sure where one will end up on a bus. Also, train fares are simple, one pays for a ticket, and rides the light rail to where it is going. Not so for busses. There are region fees, and transfer fees, so the net fare can be almost anything. And the hapless rider is expected to have the exact change necessary to cover any possibility. So Dad decided to confer with Kimi on the subject. They agreed that two busses in the morning was probably a bit more than suburban Dad was ready for. Afterall, with so many places for random events to intercede, there was not telling where Dad would end up!
Mongo’s gallery
Mongolope 
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